poll:would/do you let your 8 year old ride in the front seat of the car?

I do not let my 8 year old right in the front seat.I watched him get into a friend's parent's car this evening and watched him climb into the front seat.I wasnt very happy.I called ds and asked him why he was in the front seat and his reply was that"the airbag is turned off".I told him he is to ask to ride in the backseat on the way back.

I was just questioning this myself the other day. I had my niece and nephew with me and needed to go to the store. I wasn't sure where to put my 10yo (all the other ones are little, ages 1-5). He has never ridden in the front seat, and has only been out of a booster (no back) for about a year. So I looked it up...

Michigan has a primary seat belt law, which means law enforcement can stop and ticket motorists solely for not being buckled up. The law requires:

Passengers 8-15 to buckle up in all seating positions

Drivers and front seat passengers to be buckled up

Michigan's child passenger safety law requires:

Children younger than age 4 to ride in a car seat in the rear seat if the vehicle has a rear seat. If all available rear seats are occupied by children under 4, then a child under 4 may ride in a car seat in the front seat. A child in a rear-facing car seat may only ride in the front seat if the airbag is turned off.

Children to be properly buckled in a car seat or booster seat until they are 8 years old or 4-feet-9-inches tall. Children must ride in a seat until they reach the age requirement or the height requirement, whichever comes first.

This sounds like something I need to educate myself on, since I clearly remember riding in the front seat for all of my childhood. I've never even thought about it until I saw this thread. I'm glad I read through it.

sorry but under 12 in the back at the minimum, in my car its generally under 14.. unless I HAVE to put a 12 or 13 year old in the front, which hasn't happened much at all. I mean, come on, CARS even have it written on the visers.. I thought this was common knowledge these days?

And for the record my 8 year old is huge and still in a booster... he has many years still in the backseat!

This sounds like something I need to educate myself on, since I clearly remember riding in the front seat for all of my childhood.

The laws are always changing and being updated as more studies are done...in fact, in CO, up until 2009, once a child here turned 4, they could be in JUST a seatbelt...they changed it starting in 2010 to the 8 years, 4'9" booster seat at a minimum law as many other states have.

Heck, growing up, not only did I sit in the front seat as a kid, there were also no seatbelt laws, and no such things as carseats! I remember being 7 years old, and holding my newborn brother in my arms, riding in the backseat with no seatbelt! Yikes! That was 1977 BTW.